[Six times.]

[Nine times!]

[………… We shouldn’t be too greedy, right, Seolrang? Six times is reasonable.]

[But nine times!]

[Think about it, Seolrang. As I said, this isn’t just a tool to spy on the Lord. It’s meant for the Lord’s safety. So we can’t just use it for peeking, right?]

[But Yutia, you’ve looked!]

[…..When did I do that?]

Yutia feigned ignorance as if she had no idea what Seolrang was talking about.

Seeing this, Seolrang puffed up her cheeks and shouted.

[You’ve always watched when Master was sleeping! Now, I can detect even the slightest movement of mana!]

[Hmm? That’s just your imagination.]

The two continued to bicker.

Hidan, caught in between, felt a bit uncomfortable—

No, correction.

Right now, he was feeling extremely uncomfortable.

And for good reason.

The two, who were arguing with great enthusiasm, seemed completely unaware that Hidan was also present in this meeting.

Because of this, Hidan wanted to escape from this place right away.

Not only did he have no interest in eavesdropping on such a conversation, but—

Even if Seolrang didn’t mind, he knew that if Yutia found out, dealing with the aftermath wouldn’t be easy.

Considering how she secretly disliked showing this side of herself, he might even have to risk his life…

Hidan shuddered at the thought.

Yet, despite everything, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the meeting.

This video conference was strange.

When entering, the screen simply turned on silently.

There was no sound.

However, unfortunately, when leaving, the distinctive hum of magic slowly faded, creating a noticeable noise just as the meeting was about to end.

And the problem was—

If Hidan forcibly cut off his connection right now to escape, it would be no different from openly admitting that he had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

So, he held his breath and slowly lowered his body, trying to erase his presence.

Meanwhile, Yutia and Seolrang’s conversation continued.

[Yutia, I know you’ve watched Master while he was sleeping.]

[You’re mistaken.]

[I saw you smirk when Evan praised you to Master.]

[You’re mistaken.]

[I know you’ve stared at Master whenever he was casting magic!]

[……You’re mistaken.]

As Hidan listened, his once fearful expression turned into something else.

Because if everything Golden Moon said was true—

…….Wouldn’t that make Yutia a stalker?

A certain word surfaced in his mind.

Hidan lifted his gaze and secretly observed Red Moon, who kept denying everything with, “You’re mistaken.”

[Hmph! Yutia, when Master was taking a bath—]

[……………Let’s settle for eight times.]

The moment Red Moon finally backed down at Golden Moon’s last remark,

“……!”

Hidan quickly covered his mouth.

He knew better than anyone how devoted Red Moon—no, Yutia—was to the Great Moon.

But based on their conversation so far, if he inferred what Golden Moon was about to say before she was cut off…

Wow, this was something else.

Realizing the shocking(?) truth about the devout Red Moon,

Hidan couldn’t help but be horrified.

‘So basically, the Moons are gathering to trade… opportunities to spy—no, peek at the Great Moon?’

His mouth hung open in shock before he hastily regained his composure.

As he sat there in a daze, continuing his thoughts, the magic he was supposed to inject into the crystal ball, maintaining a precise amount, wavered slightly.

Looking at the orb that seemed ready to shut down, Hidan hurriedly stabilized his mana, but—

Wooooong!

Since his mana had already been cut off and reconnected, the crystal ball emitted a peculiar noise as it rebooted.

And at that sound—

[Hmm?]

[!]

Seolrang, who had been basking in her victory, and Yutia, who had just sighed in exhaustion—

“……!!”

Both turned their gazes toward Hidan’s direction.

Letting out a small sigh, Hidan instinctively ducked his head.

He debated whether he should start apologizing right away and squeezed his eyes shut.

Which option had the higher survival rate?

At that moment—

[It’s rare for Seolrang to arrive first.]

[Hi!]

[…………Rine, huh.]

Just in time, Rine entered and greeted them, drawing Yutia and Seolrang’s attention away.

Following that, Deus also entered.

[……You’re late.]

[Welcome, Deus! But you don’t look so good today. Something wrong?]

[It’s nothing.]

[Really? You don’t look fine, though?]

[Indeed. Did something happen?]

[……..Something sad happened.]

Hidan let out a quiet sigh of relief.

About thirty minutes later—

[……Sorry, I’m a little late.]

Feigning nonchalance, Hidan greeted them as if he had just arrived.

[Oh, Hidan! Welcome. So, what’s up?]

[It’s rare to see Deus this gloomy.]

The Moons casually acknowledged his arrival before refocusing their attention on First Moon, Deus.

[I’m here too! Huh? Deus, why do you look so down?]

Silver Moon entered next, adding to the concern over First Moon.

Letting out a long sigh, First Moon finally spoke.

[…….To explain this, I have to go back a few months to an incident in the forest.]

He began his story.

[!]

[!]

[!]

At that moment.

Everyone except Red Moon erased the concern from their faces and froze.

They had just realized it.

That they had set the stage for Deus themselves.

[Uh—how about we just get to the point—]

Radan instinctively tried to cover Deus’s mouth.

[It all started… yes, that morning. When I woke up as usual, my beloved and adorable little sister, Sili, was nowhere to be found—]

[Ah—]

[Ah…]

[……]

It was already too late.

As the floodgates opened, the Moons collectively sighed.

‘If First Moon started with his own story instead of the Great Moon’s tale… At least five hours… No, maybe six hours.’

Hidan, feeling a sense of pity, muttered internally.

Then—

Hidan suddenly felt a gaze on him and turned his head.

And there, he met eyes with Rine.

And—

He saw it.

Rine silently mouthing the words:

Tell me what Seolrang and Yutia were talking about earlier.

Hidan realized that Rine’s sudden intrusion earlier had not been a coincidence.

Nod.

He soon gave a small nod of acknowledgment.

And the meeting continued.

###

The Next Day

Alon finally understood why Kalannon’s faith had surged so rapidly.

“So, you’re saying Reinhardt used Kalannon’s power on the northern front?”

“That’s right.”

“…That alone doesn’t seem convincing enough, does it?”

“Which part?”

“No matter how strong Reinhardt is, the idea that knights would suddenly start worshipping Kalannon as the god of knights just because he used some power seems a little odd.”

Evan nodded as if he understood where Alon was coming from.

“When you put it that way, it does sound strange. I was also confused at first.”

“There’s more to the story?”

“Not exactly, but I got an explanation of the situation.”

As Evan described the events of that time, Alon paused in thought before speaking.

“In short, Sili’s use of Kalannon’s power didn’t resonate with the knights, but Reinhardt’s did?”

“Yes. To be honest, no matter how nicely you put it, Reinhardt only participated in faith-based activities reluctantly.”

In other words—

Wait, so Reinhardt, who barely puts in any effort, is using divine power?

Does that mean I can do it too?

—That kind of situation, Evan added.

Alon unknowingly found himself convinced.

‘So that’s how it happened.’

Well, from Alon’s perspective, this wasn’t really a problem.

In fact, it was beneficial if the knights revered him.

The more faith the knights accumulated, the higher Alon’s divinity would grow.

‘But for this phenomenon to continue, I’ll need to use faith to transfer power to them…’

Alon stroked his chin.

Of course, distributing divine power wasn’t particularly difficult.

But—

The problem was choosing the right people to receive it.

“Hm~”

If Alon had been an ethereal god without a physical body, this wouldn’t have been a concern.

Unfortunately, he did exist in physical form.

‘For now, people’s attention is focused on Kalannon, the lightning receiver, and the idea that Marquess Palatio is that god is mostly dismissed as nonsense or met with skepticism.’

For now, randomly distributing divine power might have more advantages.

But in the future, that wouldn’t be the case.

If a recipient of divine power were to misuse it—

Ultimately, Alon would bear the full consequences.

Therefore—

‘I should probably discuss this with Kalannon… It’s about time she showed up, isn’t it?’

Alon glanced at Kalannon’s horn, where Blackie was curled up, purring as if it were a cat tower.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Alon stood up.

In any case, unless Kalannon reached out first, Alon had no way of contacting her.

‘Well, she’ll show up eventually.’

After settling his thoughts, Alon made his way toward Penia’s secondary office.

He had work to do with Penia today.

“Ah, you’re here?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got everything prepared, so have a seat!”

Penia greeted him more warmly than usual and gestured toward a seat.

Noticing the dark circles under her eyes had deepened, Alon remarked,

“…The connected Original Pattern must have been quite intriguing.”

Alon’s task for today was simple.

He was going to convert Penia’s mana into his own and use it to replenish the Footsteps of the Past.

If Alon were to do this on his own, it would take nearly a month.

Even if he did nothing but pour mana into it without researching magic, it would still take one to two weeks.

However, Penia Crysinne, a future Archmage recognized even by Psychedelia,

“Yeah! It was really fascinating! Where did you even find this artifact?!”

…Had such an enormous amount of mana that just using a portion of it was enough to fully charge the Footsteps of the Past.

‘…So envious. That talent.’

As Alon watched Penia put on the ring, he couldn’t help but feel envious once again.

“……Huh?”

For a moment, he had the feeling that the red brooch emitted a brief flash of crimson light.

He glanced down at it but quickly shrugged and looked away.

After all, a gemstone wouldn’t just shine on its own.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

“Yeah, I’m counting on you.”

A short while later—

Penia, who had also placed a ring on the middle finger of her left hand like Alon, began to release her mana.

Wooooong~!

An immense surge of mana spread out in all directions before swiftly channeling into the ring on Penia’s hand, flowing into Alon’s ring, and finally being absorbed into the Footsteps of the Past.

The artifact, which had been a dull gray, rapidly took on a blue glow.

After about a minute—

“It’s done.”

“Oh, already?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing that the task, which should have taken him a whole month, was completed in just one minute, Alon once again felt the stark difference in talent.

“U-um! Then, would it be okay if I study this a bit more?”

Penia, her cheeks slightly flushed, eagerly asked as she looked at the ring.

“Go ahead. At this point, I don’t have much use for it anyway.”

“Thank you!”

“In return, I’ll be counting on you in the future too.”

“Of course!”

With a light nod, Alon lifted the fully charged Footsteps of the Past.

Paah!

A bright white light engulfed his vision—

And when it faded—

“You’re late.”

He found himself face-to-face with Kylrus, who stood with a massive black dragon behind him.

The sight of the dragon’s overwhelming presence never failed to awe him, but Alon quickly refocused and looked at Kylrus.

“Before we begin training, I have something to ask. Can we talk for a moment?”

“What is it?”

“I went to the Horizon.”

“And what do you want to ask?”

At Kylrus’s response, Alon gave him a brief summary of what had happened there.

Finally, he got to the heart of his question.

“What exactly is that place?”

Kylrus fell silent for a moment.

Then, he spoke.

“Palayon’s companion.”

“……What?”

“That place was created by the close friend of the great human, Palayon—the one who first spread magic across this world. And—”

He continued in a calm voice.

“They were the only mage in history to wield the technique of ‘Reversal.'”